Trapped, Part II
by megand220
Summary: Christine is still caught in Erik's torture chamber, and is having strange flashbacks and visions in the miserable heat. Is Erik too late to save her?


I sat on the edge of the murky blue water, the wind tugging gently at my hair, the sun hidden behind giant wisps of cotton candy clouds. They rolled in, dull thuds of thunder echoing far off in the distance. I kept my gaze fixed on a little white sailboat, tiny against the backdrop of the vast gray sky.

I sensed him behind me, and did not look over when he plopped down on the sand at my side.

Tears immediately stung my eyes. I swiped them away hurriedly, not wanting to make this harder than it was already going to be. I waited for him to speak, tracing my finger along the side of a smooth, damp shell while I watched that little boat drift idly at sea.

"So, you're really leaving, aren't you?"

His words hung around me in the air, clinging to my skin like a spiderweb. I closed my eyes, willing this reality to collapse. Willing myself to wake up – this _had_ to be the worst sort of nightmare, the feeling of claustrophobia squeezing in closer, pulling deep into the sand until I was buried, suffocating. But Father would come soon. He'd come fetch me from the beach, tussle Raoul's hair, take me home for the night, play me a tune on his violin. He could save me from this horror.

_But he won't come_, I forced myself to think. My stomach clenched at the thought. _I know he won't come._

I nodded to Raoul, bringing myself back to reality, confirming his fears.

I heard him sigh.

"Lotte, you'll write, won't you? You'll write me? Or visit?" He turned away, I could hear his voice becoming tighter. "Perhaps Philippe might bring _me _to visit you_?_"

He was talking more to himself than to me now. I stayed silent, running my hands along the sand, closing my eyes as the salty sea mist sprinkled over my face.

"Christine?"

I looked at him now. He was three years older than me, but his eyes shone will the sadness of someone much older than that. Someone much wiser. Losing so much more.

"Are you going away forever? Forever, ever?"

I felt my throat constrict.

"I don't know, Raoul," I whispered, turning away again. "I just don't know."

He put his arm around me, squeezing me into him, tight. I laid my head on his shoulder, breathing in deep, committing his scent to memory. He smelled like honeysuckle and ginger.

"Lotte, it'll be okay. Everything will be okay."

The rain started. Thunder loped in ever closer, making my heart beat to the rhythm of its low drumming.

"I'm so scared," I told him. The tears came fast now, spilling onto his coat, one by one, like soldiers diving into the unknown, leaving a dark stain on his shoulder.

"It'll be okay," he said. "I promise."

A flash of lightning streaked across the charcoal sky. The little white sailboat had disappeared.

Raoul leaned in. To whisper in my ear, to tell me everything was going to be all right, that he'd be there. That he'd always be there. But I didn't feel his breath tickle my neck, and realized he was moving toward my lips, to kiss me.

But the rain seemed to be melting him away. Each raindrop stole a little droplet of color, a little orb of his being. My mouth dropped open in horror.

And before his lips could caress mine, he had vanished into nothingness.

I jumped back, unable to comprehend what I'd just seen. Was it just me, or was the beach fading away now, too?

The air became heavier. I found it hard to breathe in, to catch my breath. Thick darkness had started closing in around _me_ now! It was choking me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see! I flung out my arms wildly, feeling around for the beach, for Raoul. But I seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, with nothing left around me. Nothing keeping me grounded but this terrifying darkness.

And then, one final roar of thunder cut out all sound completely. A terrible, high-pitched buzzing filled its place in my ears.

The noise instantly made me feel sick. My hands flew to my head, and I tore at my hair, willing the maddening sound to cease. A sharp, jagged pain shot across my right palm. I felt blood oozing down my arm, felt its warm, sticky trickle and my pulse pounding in my hand.

And that blackness, _that blackness! _It was closing in impossibly tighter. I could hear nothing, nothing but that awful, dizzying screech. I tried to scream for help, but my voice seemed to be lost forever in the struggle, gone with Raoul. Gone with the sea and the wind and the rain.

So I sank down into my dark prison, powerless against its overwhelming strength. It was taking me hostage, and I could do nothing but sink into its suffocating clutches. My body felt as if it were being drained of every ounce of resolve, every drop of energy. A wave of heat crept up over my body, winding its hands around me like vines twisting their way up a tree. Pulling me deeper still into the nothingness, and I began to fear that there was no hope of ever being released.

The screeching intensified, filling my mind with its terrible noise, the heat burning me up like a helpless log in a fiery pit. My hand stung with pain, and I clenched my teeth against it so tightly that I could feel my heartbeat in my head, now, too. I would be nothing soon – nothing but a pile of useless, charred ashes. This hellish torture had to kill me soon. It _had _to. I couldn't begin to muster the energy to resist. I opened my mouth to let out a silent scream of agony as I succumbed to this dark power –

But suddenly, I felt a huge release.

The blackness seemed to shrink away from me, pulling everything with it. The heat, the buzzing, the pain. I felt like I was floating, drifting along in a river of newly restored serenity.

_This must be the end._

A wave of coolness washed over me. A pop in my ears left a muted quiet in place of the hideous, unbearable screeching. I drank in the fresh, cold air.

And then, I heard the most beautiful voice in the world, calling my name, from far off.

_"Christine."_


End file.
